


Bringing Her Home

by MorningTRex26



Series: Jumping Into the Deep [1]
Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Canon Queer Relationship, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Homecoming, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Mild S&M, Non-Linear Narrative, Post-Prison, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prison, Queer Themes, References to Drugs, Reunion Sex, Reunions, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-29 21:49:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21417217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorningTRex26/pseuds/MorningTRex26
Summary: After threatening the federal government with a lawsuit and nearly a year in Ohio, Piper Chapman secures her fiance's release from the Ohio prison that has defined the last year of their lives. As they prepare for their reunion, the two reflect on the moments over the past year that got them to this point, both good and bad. The story covers twenty-four hours in the lives of Alex and Piper, the most important twenty-four hours of their lives as a couple--coming home and taking the first steps into their future as free women living and loving on their terms.
Relationships: Cal Chapman/Piper Chapman, Piper Chapman/Alex Vause, Piper Chapman/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Jumping Into the Deep [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1543960
Kudos: 14





	1. Prologue: The Rest Was Just Background

The phone rang twice as Piper struggled to hold it in her shaky, sweaty palm. She wanted to hang up and just accept that this was her life and she had no power to change it. Then she thought back to the meetings with her intro to law professor and her new friend, Mia, from the yoga studio she had started going to regularly and the nerve-wracking meeting with a still very much grieving father who could get sympathy and respect she never could as the wife of a convicted drug dealer and former co-conspirator. This was the last piece she needed, assuming the phone rang twice as Piper struggled to hold it in her shaky, sweaty palm. She wanted to hang up and just accept that this was her life and she had no power to change it. Then she thought back to the meetings with her intro to law professor and her new friend, Mia, from the yoga studio she had started going to regularly and the nerve-wracking meeting with a still very much grieving father and a woman who could reach him in a way she never could. This was the last piece she needed, assuming the person attached to the number she dialed even saw anything that night. She knew it wouldn't be the end of what she was trying to do if she hadn't but it would make things harder if she hadn't seen anything or was too angry to help her. She didn't deserve it but she hoped she'd get it anyway. Because if she had seen something, it would lend a lot of legitimacy to the last straw for Piper when it came to the abuse she had seen and experienced by psychologically unhealthy guards. Just as she took the phone from her ear and went to hang up the phone, she heard it stop ringing and silence on the other end of the line.

"Hey! Hi! You picked up, I really didn't think you would."

"I told you six months ago when you told me you weren't going to Northampton, that you weren't ready to give up on Alex yet and you were driving through Pennsylvania that I understood and would always be there for you. I really care about you, Piper. I want to see you happy and whether it's with me or Alex I just want you to follow your heart. Is everything okay in Ohio? Cause if your family cut you off and you need money I'll send it without question. Even if you spend it on her. I assume you are still with her?"

"Yeah, we're doing better than ever. We decided to go for a clean slate and start from the beginning again but we still wear our rings and consider ourselves married because that love is still there. We still feel the same deep connection that led me to ask to be her wife in the first place. The Ohio prison is better all around and I get to hold my wife's hand and touch her. She's taking bookkeeping classes and it's not as violent and corrupt as Litchfield. It's still prison but it's more forward-thinking and into preventing recidivism. Ohio ended up being the best thing that could have happened to us. I'm going to night school to become a paralegal and working at Starbucks. My parents and Neri aren't exactly thrilled at my move but they are starting to come around. I went back to Connecticut for the weekend and they saw how happy and enthusiastic about life I was. Cal secretly supports me but he would never let my parents or his wife know and I'd never ask him too. He couldn't handle that rejection, he's not as strong as me."

"So why are you calling then? I'm happy to hear from you, just it doesn't make sense."

"I'm trying to put a class action lawsuit together against the federal prison system for hiring psychologically unfit guards and their treatment of queer and trans female inmates. I'm asking for unspecified damages but really I just want them to stop hiring guards who could never make it through the screening process to be a cop. I'm not asking for the foxes to stop guarding the henhouse, I'm just saying trauma and abuse survivors deserve better. I don't want money, nobody in the case wants money we just want better psychological testing. And I want my wife released, she's been nearly killed by three guards and then there's the whole thing with another guard. And that's where you come in. Alex had an affair with a guard with severe PTSD and generally unbalanced who stalked me when Alex broke it off. Remember that night you walked me home after the gala?"

"Yeah. It felt like someone was waiting outside and then following us but I couldn't see anyone threatening. That's why I was so insistent on escorting you home, something didn't feel right. Was she following us that night?"

"Yeah. She tried to push her way into the house. It was fucked up and scary but I know it's the word of a felon against a prison guard unless I can prove that I was stalked on an otherwise empty street."

"What do I need to do?"

"Sign a witness statement to what you saw that night. The stalking of all things is the linchpin of my case, the proof that their lack of proper screening is putting the lives of people outside the prison at risk."

"Just send me the information about where you need it sent. And call me once in a while if you can, I understand if Alex isn't okay with it but I worry about you sometimes."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I know how we both are, it's hard enough for us to maintain a relationship with Nicky. We can't do it for two people, Nicky is like a sister to me and she's Alex's best friend so it's worth trying. You were and will always be what could have been in another life where an ordinary life could ever satisfy me. Alex makes me special and I love her. I don't know how not to love her and I've given up trying and so has she. But I'll let you know how the case goes."

"I understand. I'd like to at least know that much."

Two months later Piper called Zelda again after her shift at Starbucks and study group, "I have news. The government doesn't want this case to ever be known publicly, let alone reach the Supreme Court and they figured out who the lead plaintiffs are and have offered to release Alex and look into their hiring practices, which I know is bullshit but the other plaintiffs are all fine with it, for whatever reason that I'm not willing to question. Alex asked for her passport and the bank account of her choice to be unfrozen upon her release. And they agreed to it, they'll give us anything if we go away quietly. We would have to sign an extremely strict NDA, which would preclude us basically from ever speaking in anything that could be construed as publicly about our experiences during our incarceration. I could make a difference at home or in the world but I'll never be able to do both."

"You can make a difference through helping others, you don't have to write a book or speak at a rally, let other people do that. I know what it is to be a married social justice advocate and when things were good there's nothing I would have chosen over my wife. You are no good to any greater goals if your house is in disarray. You need to get her out of there. That's the change you have the power to make and the one most likely to be made. The one most likely to have a long-lasting effect. You two need to start your lives together as free women and you deserve it."

"I think I've just heard one too many times that if anyone is going to win this it would be someone like me and we both know what they mean."

"But for one thing, you love Alex and that love has made you do some crazy things. Bring her home, live a quiet, anonymous peaceful life away from everything. You don't know the gift you are being given. Believe me, after my last project I'm wishing I never got involved in professional activism. Just be Alex and Piper, the girls next door who happen to have found each other and fallen in love. The rest is just background."

"I said that once about me and her and the time we spent with the ring. I'm scared we aren't capable of being normal. We weren't built for quiet normalcy."

"Normal doesn't mean being plain and boring. You still get to live boldly and love passionately. Open existence with your partner and showing how ordinary we are is the boldest thing you can do as a queer person. Bring her home while that's still a guaranteed option."

As Piper flung her phone on the lavender comforter she knew Zelda had served any purpose she ever could have had in her life. Without hesitation, she picked her phone back up and blocked the red head's number without any emotion either way and then called the mediator back and accepted the deal. As she hung up, she felt more sadness than she thought she would at giving up any chance to share her experience of incarceration with the world. She hoped she would find another, quieter way to make a lasting difference in the world and for LGBTQ people in the criminal justice system.

Piper and Alex waited for nearly two weeks before she got a release date and when she did, she was given twelve hours notice of her release. Piper had just enough time to scramble and get her shift covered and send a quick email to her professor to tell her she wouldn't be in class before attempting to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be the biggest day of her life, the day that had come sooner than she ever could have imagined and she never thought would; she was bringing her home. She programmed a quick reminder alarm into her phone, fearing she'd forget or sleep through the scheduled release and Alex would be dropped in an unfamiliar city trying to get to an apartment she'd never been to in a not so great part of the city because she didn't show up on time.


	2. Wives Are the Worst

The phone rang twice as Piper struggled to hold it in her shaky, sweaty palm. She wanted to hang up and just accept that this was her life and she had no power to change it. Then she thought back to the meetings with her intro to law professor and her new friend, Mia, from the yoga studio she had started going to regularly and the nerve-wracking meeting with a still very much grieving father who could get sympathy and respect she never could as the wife of a convicted drug dealer and former co-conspirator. This was the last piece she needed, assuming the phone rang twice as Piper struggled to hold it in her shaky, sweaty palm. She wanted to hang up and just accept that this was her life and she had no power to change it. Then she thought back to the meetings with her intro to law professor and her new friend, Mia, from the yoga studio she had started going to regularly and the nerve-wracking meeting with a still very much grieving father and a woman who could reach him in a way she never could. This was the last piece she needed, assuming the person attached to the number she dialed even saw anything that night. She knew it wouldn't be the end of what she was trying to do if she hadn't but it would make things harder if she hadn't seen anything or was too angry to help her. She didn't deserve it but she hoped she'd get it anyway. Because if she had seen something, it would lend a lot of legitimacy to the last straw for Piper when it came to the abuse she had seen and experienced by psychologically unhealthy guards. Just as she took the phone from her ear and went to hang up the phone, she heard it stop ringing and silence on the other end of the line.

"Hey! Hi! You picked up, I really didn't think you would."

"I told you six months ago when you told me you weren't going to Northampton, that you weren't ready to give up on Alex yet and you were driving through Pennsylvania that I understood and would always be there for you. I really care about you, Piper. I want to see you happy and whether it's with me or Alex I just want you to follow your heart. Is everything okay in Ohio? Cause if your family cut you off and you need money I'll send it without question. Even if you spend it on her. I assume you are still with her?"

"Yeah, we're doing better than ever. We decided to go for a clean slate and start from the beginning again but we still wear our rings and consider ourselves married because that love is still there. We still feel the same deep connection that led me to ask to be her wife in the first place. The Ohio prison is better all around and I get to hold my wife's hand and touch her. She's taking bookkeeping classes and it's not as violent and corrupt as Litchfield. It's still prison but it's more forward-thinking and into preventing recidivism. Ohio ended up being the best thing that could have happened to us. I'm going to night school to become a paralegal and working at Starbucks. My parents and Neri aren't exactly thrilled at my move but they are starting to come around. I went back to Connecticut for the weekend and they saw how happy and enthusiastic about life I was. Cal secretly supports me but he would never let my parents or his wife know and I'd never ask him too. He couldn't handle that rejection, he's not as strong as me."

"So why are you calling then? I'm happy to hear from you, just it doesn't make sense."

"I'm trying to put a class action lawsuit together against the federal prison system for hiring psychologically unfit guards and their treatment of queer and trans female inmates. I'm asking for unspecified damages but really I just want them to stop hiring guards who could never make it through the screening process to be a cop. I'm not asking for the foxes to stop guarding the henhouse, I'm just saying trauma and abuse survivors deserve better. I don't want money, nobody in the case wants money we just want better psychological testing. And I want my wife released, she's been nearly killed by three guards and then there's the whole thing with another guard. And that's where you come in. Alex had an affair with a guard with severe PTSD and generally unbalanced who stalked me when Alex broke it off. Remember that night you walked me home after the gala?"

"Yeah. It felt like someone was waiting outside and then following us but I couldn't see anyone threatening. That's why I was so insistent on escorting you home, something didn't feel right. Was she following us that night?"

"Yeah. She tried to push her way into the house. It was fucked up and scary but I know it's the word of a felon against a prison guard unless I can prove that I was stalked on an otherwise empty street."

"What do I need to do?"

"Sign a witness statement to what you saw that night. The stalking of all things is the linchpin of my case, the proof that their lack of proper screening is putting the lives of people outside the prison at risk."

"Just send me the information about where you need it sent. And call me once in a while if you can, I understand if Alex isn't okay with it but I worry about you sometimes."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I know how we both are, it's hard enough for us to maintain a relationship with Nicky. We can't do it for two people, Nicky is like a sister to me and she's Alex's best friend so it's worth trying. You were and will always be what could have been in another life where an ordinary life could ever satisfy me. Alex makes me special and I love her. I don't know how not to love her and I've given up trying and so has she. But I'll let you know how the case goes."

"I understand. I'd like to at least know that much."

Two months later Piper called Zelda again after her shift at Starbucks and study group, "I have news. The government doesn't want this case to ever be known publicly, let alone reach the Supreme Court and they figured out who the lead plaintiffs are and have offered to release Alex and look into their hiring practices, which I know is bullshit but the other plaintiffs are all fine with it, for whatever reason that I'm not willing to question. Alex asked for her passport and the bank account of her choice to be unfrozen upon her release. And they agreed to it, they'll give us anything if we go away quietly. We would have to sign an extremely strict NDA, which would preclude us basically from ever speaking in anything that could be construed as publicly about our experiences during our incarceration. I could make a difference at home or in the world but I'll never be able to do both."

"You can make a difference through helping others, you don't have to write a book or speak at a rally, let other people do that. I know what it is to be a married social justice advocate and when things were good there's nothing I would have chosen over my wife. You are no good to any greater goals if your house is in disarray. You need to get her out of there. That's the change you have the power to make and the one most likely to be made. The one most likely to have a long-lasting effect. You two need to start your lives together as free women and you deserve it."

"I think I've just heard one too many times that if anyone is going to win this it would be someone like me and we both know what they mean."

"But for one thing, you love Alex and that love has made you do some crazy things. Bring her home, live a quiet, anonymous peaceful life away from everything. You don't know the gift you are being given. Believe me, after my last project I'm wishing I never got involved in professional activism. Just be Alex and Piper, the girls next door who happen to have found each other and fallen in love. The rest is just background."

"I said that once about me and her and the time we spent with the ring. I'm scared we aren't capable of being normal. We weren't built for quiet normalcy."

"Normal doesn't mean being plain and boring. You still get to live boldly and love passionately. Open existence with your partner and showing how ordinary we are is the boldest thing you can do as a queer person. Bring her home while that's still a guaranteed option."

As Piper flung her phone on the lavender comforter she knew Zelda had served any purpose she ever could have had in her life. Without hesitation, she picked her phone back up and blocked the red head's number without any emotion either way and then called the mediator back and accepted the deal. As she hung up, she felt more sadness than she thought she would at giving up any chance to share her experience of incarceration with the world. She hoped she would find another, quieter way to make a lasting difference in the world and for LGBTQ people in the criminal justice system.

Piper and Alex waited for nearly two weeks before she got a release date and when she did, she was given twelve hours notice of her release. Piper had just enough time to scramble and get her shift covered and send a quick email to her professor to tell her she wouldn't be in class before attempting to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be the biggest day of her life, the day that had come sooner than she ever could have imagined and she never thought would; she was bringing her home. She programmed a quick reminder alarm into her phone, fearing she'd forget or sleep through the scheduled release and Alex would be dropped in an unfamiliar city trying to get to an apartment she'd never been to in a not so great part of the city because she didn't show up on time.

The phone rang twice as Piper struggled to hold it in her shaky, sweaty palm. She wanted to hang up and just accept that this was her life and she had no power to change it. Then she thought back to the meetings with her intro to law professor and her new friend, Mia, from the yoga studio she had started going to regularly and the nerve-wracking meeting with a still very much grieving father who could get sympathy and respect she never could as the wife of a convicted drug dealer and former co-conspirator. This was the last piece she needed, assuming the phone rang twice as Piper struggled to hold it in her shaky, sweaty palm. She wanted to hang up and just accept that this was her life and she had no power to change it. Then she thought back to the meetings with her intro to law professor and her new friend, Mia, from the yoga studio she had started going to regularly and the nerve-wracking meeting with a still very much grieving father and a woman who could reach him in a way she never could. This was the last piece she needed, assuming the person attached to the number she dialed even saw anything that night. She knew it wouldn't be the end of what she was trying to do if she hadn't but it would make things harder if she hadn't seen anything or was too angry to help her. She didn't deserve it but she hoped she'd get it anyway. Because if she had seen something, it would lend a lot of legitimacy to the last straw for Piper when it came to the abuse she had seen and experienced by psychologically unhealthy guards. Just as she took the phone from her ear and went to hang up the phone, she heard it stop ringing and silence on the other end of the line.

"Hey! Hi! You picked up, I really didn't think you would."

"I told you six months ago when you told me you weren't going to Northampton, that you weren't ready to give up on Alex yet and you were driving through Pennsylvania that I understood and would always be there for you. I really care about you, Piper. I want to see you happy and whether it's with me or Alex I just want you to follow your heart. Is everything okay in Ohio? Cause if your family cut you off and you need money I'll send it without question. Even if you spend it on her. I assume you are still with her?"

"Yeah, we're doing better than ever. We decided to go for a clean slate and start from the beginning again but we still wear our rings and consider ourselves married because that love is still there. We still feel the same deep connection that led me to ask to be her wife in the first place. The Ohio prison is better all around and I get to hold my wife's hand and touch her. She's taking bookkeeping classes and it's not as violent and corrupt as Litchfield. It's still prison but it's more forward-thinking and into preventing recidivism. Ohio ended up being the best thing that could have happened to us. I'm going to night school to become a paralegal and working at Starbucks. My parents and Neri aren't exactly thrilled at my move but they are starting to come around. I went back to Connecticut for the weekend and they saw how happy and enthusiastic about life I was. Cal secretly supports me but he would never let my parents or his wife know and I'd never ask him too. He couldn't handle that rejection, he's not as strong as me."

"So why are you calling then? I'm happy to hear from you, just it doesn't make sense."

"I'm trying to put a class action lawsuit together against the federal prison system for hiring psychologically unfit guards and their treatment of queer and trans female inmates. I'm asking for unspecified damages but really I just want them to stop hiring guards who could never make it through the screening process to be a cop. I'm not asking for the foxes to stop guarding the henhouse, I'm just saying trauma and abuse survivors deserve better. I don't want money, nobody in the case wants money we just want better psychological testing. And I want my wife released, she's been nearly killed by three guards and then there's the whole thing with another guard. And that's where you come in. Alex had an affair with a guard with severe PTSD and generally unbalanced who stalked me when Alex broke it off. Remember that night you walked me home after the gala?"

"Yeah. It felt like someone was waiting outside and then following us but I couldn't see anyone threatening. That's why I was so insistent on escorting you home, something didn't feel right. Was she following us that night?"

"Yeah. She tried to push her way into the house. It was fucked up and scary but I know it's the word of a felon against a prison guard unless I can prove that I was stalked on an otherwise empty street."

"What do I need to do?"

"Sign a witness statement to what you saw that night. The stalking of all things is the linchpin of my case, the proof that their lack of proper screening is putting the lives of people outside the prison at risk."

"Just send me the information about where you need it sent. And call me once in a while if you can, I understand if Alex isn't okay with it but I worry about you sometimes."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I know how we both are, it's hard enough for us to maintain a relationship with Nicky. We can't do it for two people, Nicky is like a sister to me and she's Alex's best friend so it's worth trying. You were and will always be what could have been in another life where an ordinary life could ever satisfy me. Alex makes me special and I love her. I don't know how not to love her and I've given up trying and so has she. But I'll let you know how the case goes."

"I understand. I'd like to at least know that much."

Two months later Piper called Zelda again after her shift at Starbucks and study group, "I have news. The government doesn't want this case to ever be known publicly, let alone reach the Supreme Court and they figured out who the lead plaintiffs are and have offered to release Alex and look into their hiring practices, which I know is bullshit but the other plaintiffs are all fine with it, for whatever reason that I'm not willing to question. Alex asked for her passport and the bank account of her choice to be unfrozen upon her release. And they agreed to it, they'll give us anything if we go away quietly. We would have to sign an extremely strict NDA, which would preclude us basically from ever speaking in anything that could be construed as publicly about our experiences during our incarceration. I could make a difference at home or in the world but I'll never be able to do both."

"You can make a difference through helping others, you don't have to write a book or speak at a rally, let other people do that. I know what it is to be a married social justice advocate and when things were good there's nothing I would have chosen over my wife. You are no good to any greater goals if your house is in disarray. You need to get her out of there. That's the change you have the power to make and the one most likely to be made. The one most likely to have a long-lasting effect. You two need to start your lives together as free women and you deserve it."

"I think I've just heard one too many times that if anyone is going to win this it would be someone like me and we both know what they mean."

"But for one thing, you love Alex and that love has made you do some crazy things. Bring her home, live a quiet, anonymous peaceful life away from everything. You don't know the gift you are being given. Believe me, after my last project I'm wishing I never got involved in professional activism. Just be Alex and Piper, the girls next door who happen to have found each other and fallen in love. The rest is just background."

"I said that once about me and her and the time we spent with the ring. I'm scared we aren't capable of being normal. We weren't built for quiet normalcy."

"Normal doesn't mean being plain and boring. You still get to live boldly and love passionately. Open existence with your partner and showing how ordinary we are is the boldest thing you can do as a queer person. Bring her home while that's still a guaranteed option."

As Piper flung her phone on the lavender comforter she knew Zelda had served any purpose she ever could have had in her life. Without hesitation, she picked her phone back up and blocked the red head's number without any emotion either way and then called the mediator back and accepted the deal. As she hung up, she felt more sadness than she thought she would at giving up any chance to share her experience of incarceration with the world. She hoped she would find another, quieter way to make a lasting difference in the world and for LGBTQ people in the criminal justice system.

Piper and Alex waited for nearly two weeks before she got a release date and when she did, she was given twelve hours notice of her release. Piper had just enough time to scramble and get her shift covered and send a quick email to her professor to tell her she wouldn't be in class before attempting to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be the biggest day of her life, the day that had come sooner than she ever could have imagined and she never thought would; she was bringing her home. She programmed a quick reminder alarm into her phone, fearing she'd forget or sleep through the scheduled release and Alex would be dropped in an unfamiliar city trying to get to an apartment she'd never been to in a not so great part of the city because she didn't show up on time.


End file.
